By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
Halloween Express is back again this year in Hays to help you with all your haunting and ghoulish holiday needs.
The pop-up store is in the former Hastings Building next to Hobby Lobby on Vine Street. The store is brought to you again this year by Kearsten and Mike Koerner of Hays.
“We thought it was a really cool idea,” Mike Koerner said. “Hays is a college community, and there are a lot of great communities around Hays that will support the economy in Hays. We thought this would be a fun store to have.”
Kearsten said, “I love it. I love Halloween. There was a need for it in Hays. There are lots of places that sell Christmas decorations. … Other than Walmart, where are you going to get this kind of stuff? We cover everything. We don’t just have a few costumes.”
Koerners are local owners, so the money spent at the store stays in the community.
Animatronics are popular this year, and customers are buying the pieces for indoor and outdoor use.
Kearsten said one customer rearranged all her furniture in her living room so she could have her Halloween animatronics inside. Kearsten said the women wanted to enjoy them without fear they might get stolen.
One of the more popular displays is a talking slim man, an example of which is front and center at the entrance to the store.
“What we do is try to find things that are hot, scary movies for the season and try to carry merchandise that wraps around that,” Mike said.
The movie “The Nun,” has inspired nun costumes. The store has also been selling a lot of items for Renaissance costumes, which Mike Koerner said he thought was inspired by movies and TV series set in that time period.
Michael Myers from “Halloween” has also been a hot seller.
The store doesn’t just carry the scary stuff. Harry Potter is always a hit.
The store, which has more than 5,000 square feet of space, carries youth sizes down to toddlers and adults sizes for both men and women. These include plus sizes.
The store also has a create-a-costume section where you can piece together your own costume from a wide array of accessories, masks and imitation weapons.
Because Halloween Express is a seasonal store, they have very limited ability to restock items. Kearsten urged people to shop sooner rather than later to have the best selection. The store has already started to sell out of some popular items.
Mike Koerner said the store has had a lot of support from Hays and the surrounding communities.
“It is great to see a lot of these little communities driving into Hays to see the store,” he said. “We get people from Plainville, Stockton, Phillipsburg, WaKeeney, Ness City, Russell. We get a lot of people from out of town on the weekends.”
The next nearest Halloween Express franchise is in Kansas City.
Halloween Express is open 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays and noon to 6 p.m. on Sundays. The store may extend hours closer to Halloween, but it will only be open until Oct. 31.
Mike Koerner is an employee of Eagle Communications, which owns and operates the Hays Post.